Pruaitch says he stood by his earlier statement that it is in the national interest for locally produced resources such as crude oil, copper, gold, fishery and forest products, to be sold to local purchasers in PNG’s national currency, the Kina.
Pruaitch believes it is an infringement of our sovereignty for lenders, or any other entity, to insist that domestic resources have to be paid for in US dollars or other foreign currencies, even when sold to PNG buyers.
Such arrangements add to the cost of doing business and hamper efforts to encourage domestic processing.